Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick I am excited to invite you to a special look at my paintings and monotypes at the Santa Monica Art Studios on March 18, 2017 from 12-5 pm as part of the 11th Annual Santa Monica Airport Artwalk.   Featuring A Balance of Shadows from my 2004 solo exhibition in San Francisco and an overview of my artwork from 1999-2017, my studio will be a time capsule for one day.  Many of the artworks on view have been loaned from private collections and are rarely on public view. In addition, a choice selection of paintings and monotypes will be available for purchase.  Copies of my brother Kent Chadwick’s wonderfully detailed book on my art will also be available for purchase.  A Balance of Shadows: Gregg Chadwick's Paintings  Hardcover – February 6, 2016 Available Online at Amazon E-book Version  Available Online Here Also, I am happy to announce that I have designed a line of clothing and accessories based aroun...

by Gregg Chadwick Ed Catmull's " Creativity, Inc. " is much like the films of Pixar itself: a balanced mix of sheer enthusiasm and careful planning. Catmull writes,"The thesis of this book is that there are many blocks to creativity, but there are active steps we can take to protect the creative process." Catmull writes about the history and vision of Pixar as well as the strategies and mechanisms that have kept the creativity flowing for an amazing run of great animated films - second only in my mind to the stunning work of the Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki and his Ghibli film studios. Cattmull's book is a must read for anyone involved in the arts. From painters, to writers, to actors, to musicians, to film-makers, to game designers - all will benefit immensely from Catmull's encouragement to embrace the unknown while learning to communicate creatively. Link here: Creativity, Inc 

by Gregg Chadwick Currently on display at the Thacher Gallery at USF is the powerful exhibition  Hiraeth : The 3.9 Collective Searches for Home .  Abhi Singh on the KQED Arts page  explains the origins of the exhibition: "San Francisco’s Fillmore district was once a vibrant African American community, known as 'the Harlem of the West.'  But in recent decades the Fillmore — like San Francisco as a whole — has witnessed a startling black exodus.  A group of artists known as the 3.9 Art Collective are responding with work that both reminds us of San Francisco’s more diverse  past and expresses their resistance to present trends. Their name comes from the percentage of African Americans that some predict will remain in the city by the time the next census takes place, in 2020.  The Welsh word Hiraeth roughly translates to a longing for a far-off home — one that may not even exist or has been changed by time or idealized by memory....

Sandra Lee and Artist Gregg Chadwick at artMRKT San Francisco , a photo by GreggChadwick on Flickr.

by Gregg Chadwick Graphic by Txvoodoo Last night's Presidential Debate revealed a new Romney style to the public: a smirking, manipulative and untruthful Mitt whose only  strategy seemed to be lying baldfacedly about his policy ideas. Already,  Romney has had to admit that he pushed misinformation in the debate to  Mike Grunwald , the author of the brilliant new book - The New New Deal .    I agree with Paul Krugman and Tyler Green: Most of the commentary about last night's debate seems to be " theater criticism. " MSNBC even pulled James Lipton on-screen, host of Inside The Actors Studio , to critique the debate as if it were simply a theatrical romp. Romney, admittedly. delivered his lines forcefully and often condescendingly, but his words were full of evasion, hesitation, mis-truth, and outright lies. Romney came across as an infomercial huckster.  In contrast President Obama was calm, empathetic, often bemused, professorial, a bit ...

  "I have always tended to take art contextually. If I have any merits as a critic, they have to do with my ability as a storyteller — and above all I wanted to tell a story." Robert Hughes in Salon , May 23, 1997 Robert Hughes in New York City - 1970's In a  1997 piece  on "60 Minutes," correspondent Steve Kroft said to Robert Hughes that he was the most powerful art critic in the world. Hughes deftly avoided the moniker and described his job as being akin to being the most important beekeeper in the world and that his influence said more about Time magazine than it did about the importance of his writing. But Robert Hughes writing is important. For many of us it was the first real taste of the transcendence and power of great art.  Since I discovered the art criticism of Robert Hughes in Time magazine when I was a teenager, I have eagerly awaited each of his new works. Robert's articles, books, and documentaries helped open the worlds of art...

Last month two brave Swedes wearing teddybear masks took off in a small plane from Lithuania and flew unannounced into the airspace of Belarus armed only with a sense of humor and parachute equipped teddybears. The plush arrivals carried leaflets proclaiming "We support the Belarusian struggle for freedom of speech." As noted on their website: "A dictator can be hated, despised or feared. The only thing he cannot survive is being laughed at." The oppressive leader of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, now knows what it is like to be laughed at. And the people of Belarus now know that the world has seen their plight. More at: Studio Total Minsk Teddybear Drop